I'm happy to announce that Naruto anime has finally entered the arc we've I've been waiting for. It feels like ages since anything interesting has really happened in the storyline and I actually checked to find that it's been around 30 episodes filled with filler and whiny-ass Uchiha crap. That translates to over half a year in real time, no wonder it felt like it was taking forever.

It's interesting really to watch Naruto slowly unfold in the anime. Since it's one of the first series I started watching during this renewed anime-boom of mine, it's also the series that I've been caught up on the longest. Since it's impossible to avoid spoilers even if you try (and I never try very hard), I know what's basically going to happen in the series and I've been waiting with baited breath for the Invasion of Pain arc. Everything I've read about it suggests that it's going to be one of those truly apocalyptic confrontations and there's nothing like a season full of asskicking to really hook an audience. The downside is that usually I would choose to watch the action episodes back to back to back, so it keeps the pacing and pseudo-adrenalin rush. Of course, now that I've actually caught up and have to wait week to week for each episode, it either means that I watch them one at a time or spend the next 3-4 months just waiting until the whole thing is finished. I think it's pretty unlikely that I'll manage the latter no matter what promises I'll make to myself nor how much I'd like to follow through.

It's funny really. I find that I have a real delay of gratification problem when it comes to stories that has grown more pronounced over the years. It used to be that I could handle the suspense of any plot in novels or tv shows or movies. Of course, for most of my life there wasn't much of an option other than to bear with it and wait for all the pieces to become clear. With the ubiquitous presence of the internet with spoiler sites and wikipedia, the information is everywhere and I just can't resist. I find myself pausing whatever I'm watching in mid-stream to spend the next 30 minutes online reading enough spoiler content to write a FAQ of my own. The most recent example of this that really stuck with me was with Higurashi.

If you recall, Higurashi is an anime series that I wrote quite a few LJ entries about. It was the one filled to the brim with 'wet the bed creepiness' and featured a murder mystery with a lot of plot twists. I couldn't stop myself from reading up on the series and basically spoilering every little bit of the plot before I finished the series. To this day, I feel a little regretful about it. I'll never know for certain but I can't help but wonder if I would have enjoyed the story even more if each part had been a surprise as it occurred and I had to put the pieces together myself. Really, I can't even think of any show or book with a really suspenseful arc which I haven't gone online to sniff out news about lately. This is especially true if I suspect any character of being a traitor or having ulterior motives. My fingers move to google them almost of their own accord just so I can vindicate my suspicions. I can't help but reminded of those studies showing that being able to delay gratification was a predictor of future IQ and success in children. Maybe this trend is just making me impulsive and stupid to boot.

Oh, and I should mention that I didn't end up going to the wedding to see Maddie play her part as a flower girl. I commented to my mom a few days ago that they were playing with fire having her in the ceremony but the general consensus seemed to be that she'd be just fine. I'm pretty sure no one still thought that after she started screaming during the middle of the ceremony and had to be taken out of the church. Kids.